A fierce mujer, mother, community organizer, educator, youth, decolonizing, housing and racial justice advocate, xicana feminist and writer. She is passionate about writing as a form of expression and believes in the power of owning ones narratives. Her writing is focused on lived experience, hoping to inspire mujeres to own their stories, power and live their truths.
Her passion for culture, decolonization, policy, human rights and social justice led her to study International Relations: Latin American Studies, with a minor in Human Rights at the University of Washington. She began her career in housing justice at the Tenants Union. Her work is focused on community led organizing; self empowerment, anti-displacement, anti-racist, tenant rights advocacy, primarily in Latinx, Spanish-speaking, immigrant and refugee communities experiencing displacement, discrimination and housing injustices. Julissa was a lead organizer in the City of Burien, where she and her community pushed City Council amounting in the passing of the Just Cause ordinance along with other tenant protections.
Julissa is a xicana Sinaloense, originally from Los Angeles, who grew up along the West Coast, from Sinaloa to Seattle. She recently published her first novel, La Primavera.
